Paul Koretz

Defying sharp warnings from gun rights groups, Los Angeles thrust itself into the national debate over gun control Tuesday, as city lawmakers voted unanimously to ban the possession of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Such magazines have been “the common thread” in almost all the mass shootings that have devastated the country, from Newtown to Virginia Tech to Columbine, said Juliet Leftwich, legal director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Backers of the plan said it was a small but meaningful step to minimize the bloodshed, by forcing attackers to at least interrupt their rampages to stop and reload. The National Rifle Assn. and other gun rights...

Related "Paul Koretz" Articles

Defying sharp warnings from gun rights groups, Los Angeles thrust itself into the national debate over gun control Tuesday, as city lawmakers voted unanimously to ban the possession of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.Such magazines have...

When Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar ran for reelection this year, he positioned himself as someone who would stand up to the powerful billboard industry, which has sued the city repeatedly for the right to install more signs.
Facing a...

Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks marked the end of his legislative career miles from City Hall, clutching a jackhammer as it pulverized a broken sidewalk near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Parks managed to rip into the city bureaucracy at...

Yet another wrinkle has emerged as Los Angeles lawmakers seek to boost the minimum wage: how businesses will pay employees who split their time inside and outside the city limits.
The new rules, slated to be approved by the City Council on Wednesday,...

A little-debated provision of the Los Angeles minimum wage hike — future increases tied to inflation — may produce its most profound and controversial consequences over the long term.
In a single vote, the City Council backed a plan that would raise...

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday backed a plan to designate a Norms restaurant famous for its zigzagging architectural lines a historic and cultural monument.
The 12-to-0 vote marks an important step toward giving the 24-hour eatery on La...

Los Angeles City Council candidate David Ryu defeated his rival in the contest to replace Councilman Tom LaBonge in a sprawling district that includes Los Feliz, Hancock Park and Sherman Oaks.
Unofficial results with 100% of precincts reporting showed...

As Los Angeles lawmakers considers hiking the citywide minimum wage to $13.25 or $15.25, they are pushing to create a new city office that could crack down on employers who break those wage rules.
"Stealing wages from working men and women is just...

Michelle Lee walked out of Los Angeles International Airport, pulling her suitcase behind her, and boarded a boxy yellow-and-black parking shuttle.
As other travelers rummaged through bags for car keys and parking stubs, Lee pulled out her iPhone and...

Los Angeles lawmakers grilled the head of the city parks department Tuesday over a controversial plan for the city to operate the Greek Theatre itself, the latest turn in the lengthy battle over the future of the Griffith Park venue.
"This strikes...

The battle over boosting the minimum wage in Los Angeles has turned to the dollar bills tucked under an empty coffee cup, the spare change dropped into tip jars and the hasty calculations jotted down on meal tabs.
As L.A. leaders weigh raising wages...

The Los Angeles Police Department will reassign hundreds of officers to new roles in mobile crime-fighting and community policing, a broad reorganization effort aimed at suppressing a surge in violent crime, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced during his 2015...

Southern California’s water wholesaler Tuesday is poised to impose a 15% cut in water deliveries to local cities and water districts, a move that would bolster Gov. Jerry Brown’s aggressive statewide conservation effort in the fourth year of withering...

Los Angeles is dotted with neighborhoods of vintage Spanish-style bungalows and modest Craftsman houses. But for the last decade, many of those homes have been razed and replaced with what their owners consider spacious contemporary homes and their...

L.A.'s Tom LaBonge is a big-city councilman with a small-town style.
His office bought its own city truck to pick up abandoned sofas and trash across the 4th District. During a downpour, the Los Angeles Downtown News reported that he personally...

The Los Angeles City Council delayed voting Tuesday on a proposed change to the city code that would ease the limit on the number of cats residents can own.
Under the current law, residents are barred from owning more than three cats without a...

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to oppose the selection of a new operator to run the Greek Theatre and asked a city commission to consider completely restarting the process, arguing that community concerns needed to be given more weight.
The...

Los Angeles leaders planned to spend $27 million on sidewalk repairs this budget year -- much more than the year before. But so far, more than halfway through the fiscal year, the city has yet to spend any of it.
"I'm kind of astonished to...

Anger over how Los Angeles is permitting development — from vast shopping centers to the McMansion next door — is all but constant on the campaign trail as more than a dozen candidates compete to represent the 4th City Council District, a grab bag of...

First, it was something I wrote. Then, it was something I read.
In a recent "Patt Morrison Asks" column, I spoke with George L. Kelling, the co-father of the “broken windows” community policing tactic, the idea that a small problem of...